17-letter words containing e, t, c
- adenylate cyclase — an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of ATP to cyclic AMP.
- adjective pronoun — a pronoun used as an adjective, as his in His dinner is ready.
- adjunct professor — a professor employed by a college or university for a specific purpose or length of time and often part-time.
- advance directive — a living will or durable power of attorney in which a person states his or her wishes regarding medical treatment in the event of mental incompetency or an inability to communicate.
- advanced standing — the status of a student who has already completed some of the requirements of a course at another institution and thus is able to miss out some elements of the full course at his or her current university
- adverse selection — Adverse selection is a term used to describe the tendency of those in dangerous jobs or with high-risk lifestyles to want to take out life insurance.
- aerobic digestion — Aerobic digestion is a process which uses bacteria and oxygen to break down organic and biological waste.
- aerothermodynamic — Of or pertaining to aerothermodynamics.
- affective fallacy — a proposition in literary criticism that a poem should be analyzed and described in terms of its own internal structure and not in terms of the emotional response it arouses in the reader.
- against the clock — If you are doing something against the clock, you are doing it in a great hurry, because there is very little time.
- age of discretion — the age at which a person is considered to be able to manage his or her own affairs
- agent provocateur — An agent provocateur is a person who is employed by the government or the police to encourage certain groups of people to break the law, so they can arrest them or make them lose public support.
- aircraft observer — U.S. Army. observer (def 4).
- aircraft-observer — someone or something that observes.
- algorithmic model — (programming) A method of estimating software cost using mathematical algorithms based on the parameters which are considered to be the major cost drivers. These estimate of effort or cost are based primarily on the size of the software or Delivered Source Instructions (DSI)s, and other productivity factors known as Cost Driver Attributes. See also Parametric Model.
- all over the occy — in every direction
- all-weather court — a tennis court suitable to be used in all kinds of weather
- allergic rhinitis — a condition characterized by head congestion, sneezing, tearing, and swelling of the nasal mucous membranes, caused by an allergic reaction.
- almanach de gotha — a publication giving statistical information on European royalty.
- alternative music — independent pop music
- altitude sickness — a condition affecting some persons at high altitudes, caused by insufficient oxygen in the blood and characterized by dizziness, nausea, and shortness of breath.
- aluminum silicate — any of a group of naturally occurring, water-insoluble substances, obtained from clay or synthesized, containing varying amounts of oxides of aluminum and silicon, Al 2 O 3 and Si 2 O 3 , and used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, paints, printing inks, rubber, and plastics.
- amateur dramatics — theatrical performances by amateur players
- american chestnut — any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata (American chestnut) which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativa (European chestnut) C. mollissima (Chinese chestnut) and C. crenata (Japanese chestnut)
- american dialects — regional or social varieties of spoken American English identified by differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation: principal dialect areas are now generally distinguished as Northern, Midland, and Southern
- american dog tick — a common tick, Dermacentor variabilis, that is the vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the eastern U.S. and also carries tularemia.
- american football — American football is a game similar to rugby that is played by two teams of eleven players using an oval-shaped ball. Players try to score points by carrying the ball to their opponents' end of the field, or by kicking it over a bar fixed between two posts.
- american redstart — any of several small, Old World thrushes, usually with reddish-brown tails, especially Phoenicurus phoenicurus (European redstart)
- amoebic dysentery — inflammation of the intestines caused by the parasitic amoeba Endamoeba histolytica
- amphitheatrically — In a manner such as to appear to have some characteristics of an amphitheatre.
- anabolic steroids — a synthetic derivative of testosterone, sometimes used by athletes to help increase weight and strength.
- analogue computer — (computer, hardware) A machine or electronic circuit designed to work on numerical data represented by some physical quantity (e.g. rotation or displacement) or electrical quantity (e.g. voltage or charge) which varies continuously, in contrast to digital signals which are either 0 or 1. For example, the turning of a wheel or changes in voltage can be used as input. Analogue computers are said to operate in real time and are used for research in design where many different shapes and speeds can be tried out quickly. A computer model of a car suspension allows the designer to see the effects of changing size, stiffness and damping.
- analytic geometry — the branch of geometry in which a coordinate graphing system makes visible, using points, lines, and curves, the numerical relationships of algebraic equations
- analytical engine — (history) A design for a general-purpose digital computer proposed by Charles Babbage in 1837 as a successor to his earlier special-purpose Difference Engine. The Analytical Engine was to be built from brass gears powered by steam with input given on punched cards. Babbage could never secure enough funding to build it, and so it was, and never has been, constructed.
- anchor escapement — an escapement in which wedge-shaped pallets engage with an escape wheel having pointed teeth, usually facing in the direction of revolution, so that the escape wheel recoils slightly at every release.
- angle of friction — the angle of a plane to the horizontal when a body placed on the plane will just start to slide. The tangent of the angle of friction is the coefficient of static friction
- anionic detergent — any of a class of synthetic compounds whose anions are alkali salts, as soap, or whose ions are ammonium salts.
- anthropogenically — In an anthropogenic way.
- anthroposemiotics — The study of human communication.
- anti-bureaucratic — of, relating to, or characteristic of a bureaucrat or a bureaucracy; arbitrary and routine.
- anti-carcinogenic — any substance or agent that tends to produce a cancer.
- anti-conservatism — the disposition to preserve or restore what is established and traditional and to limit change.
- anti-conservative — disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
- anti-conventional — conforming or adhering to accepted standards, as of conduct or taste: conventional behavior.
- anti-hierarchical — of, belonging to, or characteristic of a hierarchy.
- anti-intellectual — hostile to or opposed to intellectual persons or matters, ideas, activities, etc.
- anti-interference — intended to reduce electronic interference during radio transmissions
- anti-metaphysical — pertaining to or of the nature of metaphysics.
- anticompetitively — In an anticompetitive manner.
- antiferromagnetic — noting or pertaining to a substance in which, at sufficiently low temperatures, the magnetic moments of adjacent atoms point in opposite directions.